The Logical Step
by BabeGirl
Summary: Ranger asks Steph for a favour that will change their relationship. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

The beeping of my alarm clock woke me up. I felt awake and refreshed for once, and once I shimmied my head out from under my new down comforter, I saw that it was a cloudless and sunny day. I smiled. It was the first time in over a month that I was awake on time, happy and ready to face the world.

After a steaming shower, I got dressed in the jeans that made my butt look great, and the cranberry red sweater I actually remembered to pick up from the dry cleaners. My makeup went on flawlessly, and my hair fell in soft ringlets around my shoulders. I had food in the cupboard, and after making a pot of hot coffee and actually sitting and eating a bowl of cereal, I leaned against the counter and listened to the locks tumble and the door creak open.

"Ranger."

I heard a thump and a curse before the door opened all the way. Ranger came walking into the apartment, favouring his right leg.

"Morning Babe. Someone is rising with the sun today." I put my coffee mug down on the counter and grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer. I handed it to Ranger, and directed him to the sofa. As he gingerly placed the ice on his knee, I poured another cup of coffee, picked up my own and settled in on the couch beside him.

"It's a good day. So, to what to I owe this early morning visit?" I racked my brain for a reason, and only one came to mind. "I hope you don't want me to go running. I already made myself look presentable."

"Babe, you always look stunning." I felt a flush colouring my cheeks, and saw Ranger flash a grin. "Lucky for you, I'm not taking you running. I actually need your help."

"Sure. Is it the usual distraction?" I started mentally running through my closet trying to pick an outfit. I had just bought a few new pieces that I could make work, but other than that; I wasn't sure what to wear.

It took me a moment to realize that Ranger wasn't answering me. I looked up at him and got worried, because he was looking anywhere but at me. "Ranger, what is going on?" Ranger's eyes kept traveling around my apartment, and I had to grab his chin and force him to meet my eyes. Once I had his attention, I let my fingers trail lightly down his throat to his chest. I felt his breath start to come in short pants, and all I could focus on was my fingers resting just above the tight abs that I remembered all too well.

A mocha hand slid into mine, fingers intertwining with my own. It was a study in contrasts to look at. He pulled my hand off his stomach and up to his face. Ranger ran the back of my hand along his cheek before kissing the back of each knuckle. In the pit of my stomach, I felt that something was wrong. But nothing could have prepared me for the question that came out of Rangers mouth.

"Babe, how do you feel about motherhood?" If Ranger had said he was going to dress like a chicken for the rest of the week, I couldn't have been more shocked. My jaw hit the floor and I felt my eyes bug out. I pulled my hand out of Rangers' and walked away from the sofa. I paced the room for a moment, fully aware of a pair of chocolate eyes tracing my every movement.

I finally turned, and with as much grace as I could muster, I spit out the most profound statement I have ever uttered. "Wha...uh...What?"

A smile began to tug at the corner of those beautiful lips, and soon a deep, throaty laughter bounced off the walls of my small apartment. I crossed my arms and waited for the laughter to die down. I didn't really think this was funny.

"I know it's not funny Babe. It's just that your face was so priceless." A smile still played around his lips, but since the outward laughter had stopped, I decided that I could sit down again and try to talk about this like the calm, rational adult that I was.

"Ranger, what in the hell are you talking about? We aren't in a relationship, dating or otherwise! I can barely keep a hamster fed and alive, let alone a baby! Plus, we both know that my apartment is like Grand Central Station with the crazies and the midnight visits and the..." I was cut off by a Ranger's lips softly pressing against my own, and his strong arms pulling me into his lap. When we came up for air, I cuddled my face into the broad chest that I had come to rely on.

"Babe...Babe look at me." I forced my eyes to meet his. "I wasn't talking about our baby, although that is a discussion for another time. My sister needs to go and stay with her mother-in-law who broke her hip. She doesn't have anyone else to watch her daughter, so I kind of volunteered. The catch here is that Celia doesn't think that I can watch a baby on my own, so she wants me to ask my girlfriend to babysit with me and..."

A light bulb flicked on above my head. "Girlfriend? What girlfriend?"

Ranger had the good grace to look sheepish. "Well, Steph... Babe...that's where you come in. My sister thinks that we are dating. Have been for a while."

I levelled a glare at Ranger. "And why, per se, would your sister think that we are dating?"

"Uh...Well..." I don't think that I have ever seen Ranger look more uncomfortable. He mumbled something under his breath and stared at my knees.

"What was that?"

Ranger sighed. "I said that I was going to send someone to Bolivia. See, the guys are fairly close to my family, and Lester was talking to my sister and made it out to seem that we were dating...and now that you aren't with Morelli, I was kind of hoping that we could go out on a date." He looked up to meet my eyes and waited.

My mind was reeling. I couldn't wrap my head around what was going on, so I just got up, walked into my bedroom and closed the door. I plunked myself down Indian style in the middle of the bed and stared off into space. My mind went to the last several weeks.

Morelli and I went through a messy breakup. He had kept pushing me to quit my job and move in with him. I did. Unfortunately for both of us, Joe had come home drunk about two weeks later. I moved out after having a beer bottle thrown at my head because Morelli had found the RangeMan panties that I had brought when I moved in. Something about me having Ranger's name on my crotch rubbed Joe the wrong way. Who'd of thought it?

I had yet to give up my apartment, wanting to keep it just in case, so I moved back into the relative comfort of the seniors and the unknown neighbours. Rex had died a few days later, and after spending several days crying in bed, I was ready to face the world. Most people had thought that I was upset over the breakup, but in all truth, I couldn't have cared less. Above all, the whole situation had made me realize that what I had with Joe wasn't a real relationship. It was a comfortable mould that we both needed to break.

The day I had started back to work, I had found out that Joe had taken a job with a police force in Texas. He had left while I was wallowing in self-pity. At first I was seriously pissed that he hadn't stopped by to tell me was leaving. After everything we had been to, I thought that the memories would compel him to at least say goodbye. Just like that, I realized that if Joe and I had seen each other before he left, neither one of us would be able to move on. Now the real question was did I want to move on with Ranger?

As I was contemplated that thought, there was a soft knock on the door. I turned my head to the sound.

"Babe. Come on out and talk to me." I knew that I had to talk to him eventually, but that sounded an awful lot like and order tome. I sat and stared at the door.

"Steph. Please?" That was better. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood...only to stand on the painful end of a stiletto, roll my ankle and collapse on the floor with an "ompf."

The door flew open and Ranger was at my side faster than I could blink. He poked and prodded at my ankle before sweeping me up in his arms and not so gracefully depositing me back on the bed. He walked around my apartment with purpose, gathering a tensor bandage from the cabinet in the bathroom, along with a couple of aspirin, before going into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, another ice pack from the freezer and a spoon. Ranger dropped everything on the bed. Looked at me, and left the room again. I heard him rummaging around in the kitchen before he came back with a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

"Babe, I think you strained your ankle. I want Bobby to take a look at it, but, here take the aspirin, I am going to wrap it so you can ice it on the way to RangeMan." He wrapped my ankle swiftly and with precision, handed me the ice, the ice cream and the spoon, scooped me up into his arms and deposited my purse in my lap. We were out the door in seconds.

We were in the SUV before I could get Ranger to take a breather. I cleared my throat. "Ranger?"

"Babe."

"How about we try motherhood before we try that date?"

Ranger took my hand and smiled. "Seems logical Babe." A chuckle escaped from behind his lips.

The laughter hit me in the stomach. What had I just gotten myself into?


	2. Chapter 2

I didn't realize that I was still holding the ice cream until I felt it starting to drip down my hand.

"Oh! Jeez, that's cold." I looked for somewhere to wipe my hand off. I was about to take the plunge and wipe the sticky mess on my jeans when Ranger stopped me with a "Babe."

"What? I don't want to drip on the seats."

"Glove compartment." Oh. I hadn't even realized that there was a glove compartment. I used my clean hand to pop the latch and found a small stack of napkins.

"You keep napkins in your glove compartment?" Ranger just cut his eyes to me and turned his attention back to the road. I was momentarily dazed because keeping napkins in the glove compartment was just so...normal.

I got the goop off my hands just as we pulled into the RangeMan garage. Having nowhere else to put them, I shoved the napkins into my purse. I swung my legs out the door, and put my weight onto the running board that ran the length of the truck. My ankle felt fine, so I stood up. And the running board swiftly collapsed under me. I flailed for a moment before I pitched forward. Luckily, Ranger had come around to help me out of the car, so he caught me before I hit the ground.

Ranger placed me back on my feet and we both looked down at the damage. The running board was bent and there was a dent in the door from where I had bashed my elbow in my attempt to save my dignity. Well, the failed attempt to save my dignity. My head drooped forward and a sigh escaped my lips. I could not believe that I had ruined another of Ranger's cars. Plus, to bend a running board, I must have put on some serious weight. Time to lay off the Tasty Pastry I guess.

"Babe, don't even think that. You are perfect." His arm tightened around my waist and I felt a kiss get pressed into my hair. I sighed again and smiled.

"My life is just so hard." I allowed a small smile to cross my lips as I felt Ranger chuckle beside me before he turned me towards the elevator, sweeping me up into his arms.

"Ranger, I can walk you know." He just looked at me and smiled. I guess I would just have to take one for the team, so I snuggled into Ranger's chest. We took the elevator to seven, and Ranger called Bobby to come and look at my ankle. I sat on the couch and waited. Ranger flopped down beside me. I don't think I had ever seen Ranger flop. I kind of liked the more relaxed person in front of me.

"You flopped." A smile began to creep across my lips.

"What? I did not." He looked aghast.

"Yes you did, you flopped onto the sofa. I never took you for a flopper." I laughed for a moment before finding myself pinned under a lean, hard body. Sexual tension crackled in the air, forcing my breath to catch in my throat.

Ranger pressed his lips close to my ear. "Babe, there is nothing floppy about me." My response was cut off by his lips pressing brusingly against my own. Ranger slipped his tongue into my mouth and I moaned. My hands started to drift down his back towards the leather belt around his hips. I caught the edge of Ranger's t-shirt and pulled it out of his cargos, sliding my hands over the small of his back and raking my nails up and down his spine.

I shifted my hips, pushing to gain some control. Apparently, I pushed too hard, because the next thing I knew, I was lying on top of Ranger, who was flat on his back on the floor, looking stunned. I tried to scramble off, but the muscles in his arms bunched, securing me to his chest and he sat up. I ended up on my knees, straddling Ranger's hips. Laughter bubbled out from behind my lips, and Ranger's lips twitched for a moment before his laughter boomed out and mingled with my own.

Tears were running down both our faces when a knock sounded from the foyer. Ranger stood up, with me still wrapped around him, and walked out to open the door. Bobby took one look at us, shook his head and walked back to the elevator.

"Steph, you look fine to me. If you can climb Bossman like a monkey, chances are you'll be okay." He stepped back into the elevator and the doors closed behind him. I just stared into the vacant space that used to be a Merry Man.

"Hunh." Eloquent, I know.

Ranger just sighed. "I used to be scary. My men would never look me in the eye. I would give them one look and they would run for the hills. Now...now I'm a jungle gym."

I unwrapped myself and slid down Ranger's body until I was standing on the floor, tucked under one of his arms. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, you still scare me." I beamed up at him, and he just looked at me.

"I scare you?" His eyes had taken on a serious edge. The smile slid off my face and I settled myself facing him. "Why do I scare you? You know that I would never hurt you."

Okay, so a serious discussion wasn't what I had been going for, but I guess that we needed to talk about this eventually. "Ranger, I know that, physically, you would never hurt me. That just isn't who you are. But I cannot honestly tell you that you haven't hurt me."

I took a deep breath and continued. "After our night together, when you just left in the morning, that was so painful. Somehow, in the time leading up to that night, and that night especially, you found a way into my heart and I came to..." I searched for how to say it. Love. That one word stopped me in my tracks. I knew that's what it was, but I couldn't say that. "...care very deeply for you. Since then, every touch, every kiss, every word has been burned in my brain, but knowing that I was with Joe, or that you were on a mission, or that having a relationship with you just wasn't an option, that tore me up inside. I couldn't see a way to break out of the cycle I'd been living in, so I took the only option that I saw. I moved in with Joe. I took the life I didn't want and I tried to move on. We both know how that worked out. So when you came to my apartment today, asking me to help you, and, dear lord, on a _date_, my heart healed just a little bit."

I had been staring at my fingers splayed on Ranger's chest throughout my whole explanation, and when I finally met his eyes I was shocked to see not only raw emotion in them, but also a single tear resting in the corner of one eye. He took a breath and released it, pressing a kiss to my forehead and tucking me closer to his body.

"Steph, I am so sorry. I never even realized what I was doing. I was so focused on trying to keep myself emotionally distant from you, that I didn't see what I was doing to you, how I was hurting you. Somehow, after that night, regardless of how I tried to ignore it, you became the single most important person in this world to me. Nothing else seemed to matter as much as you. Every time you and Morelli would break up, I would wait to see if maybe, that would be the time that you wouldn't go back to him. And every time you did, I pulled further into myself. I didn't even know I was doing it until you moved in with him, and I just shut down entirely. I went back to being the machine that I used to be, before you came along and screwed up my life in the best way. So when you finally left him, and he moved away, I knew that if I didn't find a way to get you into my life, I would just go back to the government and, one of these days, I wouldn't come back from a mission. You've made me want to live."

I was sobbing against his chest. We hadn't even gone on our first date, and somehow, in that moment I mentally vowed to myself that this relationship would work, even if it killed me.

I threw my arms around Ranger's neck and pulled his lips to my own. I could taste my own salty tears and that taste that is uniquely Ranger, and we both poured every emotion we possessed into that kiss. The anger at ourselves and each other for wasting so much time, the love that we had, in our own way, expressed to each other, and the passion that had always fluttered around the edge of our pleasantly dysfunctional relationship.

The ringing of Ranger's cell phone pulled us from our bubble. Keeping me wrapped in his embrace, Ranger flipped open the phone and read the display before answering.

I felt his hardness pressed against my stomach, and I wanted nothing more than to drag him to bed. I peppered kisses along his jaw and dragged my tongue down his throat to the big pulse pounding against his skin. I felt more than heard him suck a breath in through his teeth as I gently bit down around the erratic beating of his heart and gently pulled and sucked, marking his already dark skin.

Ranger disconnected his call and pushed me against the wall near the door. His kissed me thoroughly and lazily, like he had all the time in the world, causing my knees to buckle. I felt the smile that graced his face before he gently pulled away from me.

"Babe, I would love nothing more than to finish this, but there isn't nearly enough time for what I have planned."

I had worked though the haze in my brain enough to answer. "Why? Do you have to go?"

"On the contrary, Babe. We are staying right here." He was adjusting both our clothes as he spoke, making us presentable again.

"Then what? Carlos, why can't you just take me to bed?" My mother would die if she realized what a hussy she gave birth to.

Ranger's eyes darkened and honed in on me. "Say it again. Say my name"

"Carlos." It fell from my lips on a breathy sigh.

His eyes crinkled as the smile crept across his features. I was almost blinded. I was crushed against his muscular chest, my mouth against his own, kissing me for all I was worth. I was getting seriously revved up again, when Carlos pulled away.

"Celia is bringing up the baby. She'll be here any minute." With that, he stepped away from me. It was like someone had thrown a bucket of ice on me. Nothing kills your libido like being told you are about to become an instant mother.

_I didn't think this chapter would be so serious when I started it, but this is where it ended up. I promise, more fun in the next chapter. I also promise that I'll update faster. Sorry this one took so long. Real life can be a real kill joy sometimes. Lol. _


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